"Every oil company of any size every once in a while gets fined, once in a while has a leak."
β ISU Trustee and Petco Petroleum Corp. owner Jay Bergman to the Pantagraph, January 27
A couple of weeks ago the Pantagraph broke a story about how Bergman's seat as an Illinois State University (ISU) Trustee was in jeopardy because of an Illinois Attorney General's investigation into his company. Since that time, ISU professor Angelo Capparella has unearthed more information about Petco's environmental transgressions. "Mr. Bergman is being too modest," says Capparella.
A basic Google search reveals that Petco's trouble in Michigan involved some 70 oil wells, and the Illinois Attorney General's office isn't looking into "once in a while" leaks but actually "200 other spills." Petco has a track record with both state and federal regulators.
The immediate question should not be whether Jay Bergman should be reappointed as an ISU Trustee. Rather, based on the track record of spills, fines, and indiscretions, why aren't these sufficient offenses to warrant jail time?
The reality is that America remains a racist society where minor drug offenses continue to be aggressively prosecuted, but where the cost of fines for significant environmental destruction aren't even sufficient to stop companies from committing those offenses. Petco's transgressions, at the very least, should have led to whopping fines that made it no longer feasible for Petco to continue its blatant disregard for the law. This clearly has not been the case. Instead, fines are simply another cost of doing business, and there's enough profit to compensate.
Will Rod Blagojevich do the right thing and tell Jay Bergman to take a hike? Or might the governor have some other considerations?
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As it turns out, Bergman gave Rod Blagojevich's campaign $10,000 in June 2004. And another $1,000 back in 2003. And $20,000 back in October 2002 β right before Blagojevich was elected. Campaign disclosure documents also show that Bergman has scattered thousands of dollars to both Democrats and Republicans across Illinois, including State Senator Dan Rutherford and State Representative Dan Brady. In 2002, Bergman gave $2,500 to both the Democratic and Republican State Senate political committees.
Is it at least a positive thing that Blagojevich's office is looking into the matter? Rachel Goad, president of ISU's Student Environmental Action Coalition, doesn't think so. "Jay Bergman has clear disrespect for the environment and for the communities where his company operates. I'm extremely disappointed that his seat on ISU's Board of Trustees is even in question," says Goad.
Meanwhile, Bergman is in the process of giving a whopping $400,000 to his alma mater to build a guest house for university visitors. That's a gigantic chunk of change to refuse β especially when it's coming from a university trustee. Certainly it precludes ISU President Al Bowman from saying anything unpleasant on the matter β after all, among other things, Bergman is one of his bosses.
Jay Bergman's money has come from business practices which have been proven to damage the environment of this state. Rather than conducting business in an environmentally responsible fashion, he chooses to eat the losses from the miniscule fines that are imposed and even dole out tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions. Rather than crying foul, the greedy politicians from both parties happily accept his money, and Illinois State University is essentially forced to do the same. Now, Rod Blagojevich has a choice: send Bergman packing, or send a message to this community that money is the only thing that matters.
Dirty Money Out of Our Schools:
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